Lending Landscape - February 21, 2008
The lending landscape has seen fixed mortgage rates increase over the past week, while adjustable rates continue to decline after several rate cuts from the Federal Reserve Board. Even as fixed rates have moved up, they are still nearly a quarter point lower than last year.The government-sponsored loan buyer said 30-year fixed-rate loans averaged 6.04% for the week ending Thursday, up from 5.72% last week.
Last year at this time, the 30-year rate averaged 6.22%, Freddie Mac said.
One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs averaged 4.98%, down from 5% last week. At this time a year ago, the 1-year ARM averaged 5.49%.Fixed mortgage rates have been very volatile this year given the uneasiness about the economy and declines in the stock market. In Utah, new home sales have slowed considerably, but prices are holding ground. Builders are offering discounts and promotions unheard of in the market during the recent boom. In combination with lower interest rates, it's a very attractive time to buy a new home.
Labels: home loans, Lending Landscape
posted by Homes Today at
3:28 PM
1 Comments:
This is not just a Utah issue. I've seen building stopped in some areas of the country because the original projects were larger than the system could uphold. I paid a visit to Western Maryland and saw a townhouse project on hold. There were supposed to be two more rows built but the first row hadn't been selling all that great. Reading the signs properly, it is indeed a good time to scoop up some prime real estate. We would call this a buyer's market.
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